School of Curiosity

August 2024

Medicines Policy

The administration of medicines is primarily the responsibility of parents and carers. Wherever possible, medicine should be given to children before or after school. If children require medication for infections and illnesses, it is appropriate for the school to ask if the child should be attending school due to the possibility of spreading infections to others.

When giving medicines should check:

· Child’s Name

· Prescribed dose

· Expiry date

· Written instructions (provided by prescribed)

Administering Medicine

a. Prescription medicines should be received from and returned to parent/carer.

b. Labelled medicine should normally be received and returned daily

c. Pupils requiring medicine daily on a long term-basis would make arrangements with the school in regards to (a) and (b) above (e.g diabetics who would have care plan in place).

d. It is the responsibility of the parent to provide medicine, which is:

 i. Clearly labelled in its original container

ii. Clearly labelled with the child’s name (i.e prescriptions only)

iii. Clearly labelled with the child’s date of birth

iv. Clearly labelled with the dose

v. Prescribed by a doctor unless Paracetamol

e. Written instructions should be received from the parent or carer and medicine should not be administered without these.

Storage Arrangements

Medicines other than anti-biotic and inhalers (details below) will be stored in the First Aid cabinet in the top shelf in the classroom.

Asthma Inhalers

Where parents or carers inform the school of the use of asthma inhalers, spacers and nebulisers to be available to pupils, the procedures above will be followed.

However, the inhaler will be kept with the child in class or in their bag.

Inhalers should always be self-administered by all pupils.

Children should have immediate access to inhalers. Although inhalers may be misused, the risks associated with delay in access are much greater than those of misused. For this reason, older students should keep their own inhaler with them and for younger children it would be appropriate for inhalers to be given to one of the adults.

Emergencies

All staff should know how to call the emergency services (999) and know who is responsible for carrying out first-aid and administering of medication in the school. A pupil who is required to be taken to hospital by ambulance should always be accompanied by their parent or teacher who should remain until the parents/carers arrive.

Record Keeping

Parents should tell the teacher about the medicines their child needs to take. They should provide details of any changes to the prescription or support required. For all medicines administered (other than asthma inhalers) written records must be kept each time medicines are given and parents should be informed of the time it was given.

Educational Visits

A risk assessment for educational visits should include a section on medical needs and medicines to be taken. There will be a designated person. A copy of medical care plan should also be taken.